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Inner-Outer Circle Discussion
Heart of Darkness– Inner – Outer Circle Questions DAY ONE: #What is "the horror, the horror" in Heart of Darkness? ''How do these famous last words reflect the meaning of the work as a whole? #Marlow states at the beginning of the novel, “We live as we dream alone.” What does he mean by this statement? What role do dreams and/or nightmare play in an understanding of the novel? #Apply the pattern of the archetypal journey, a grail (grail-less) quest, to Marlow’s journey to the heart of darkness. What can we learn from this type of examination? #How does an examination of Marlow as an archetypal hero enhance our understanding of the novel? #What archetypal imagery, characters, and/or symbols does Conrad employ? How do these contribute to our understanding and meaning of the novel? #How does black and white imagery both reinforce and subvert racial attitudes? #Do any of Conrad’s characters exhibit a high moral standard? If so what kind of characters stick to their principles? #To what extent does Marlow return to Britain physically and mentally altered from his colonial experiences? #What role does Kurtz’s African mistress play? What kind of language is used to describe her? Is it consistent? #Discuss the portrayal of Kurtz’s Intended. How is she represented? #What is Marlow’s attitude toward women? Is it consistent? Explain. #What is the significance of Marlow’s lie to the Intended? What is Marlow’s attitude toward lying? Is his lie justified or not? Explain. #How does the structure of the novel relate to the meaning of the work? #What effect do the two narrators have on the story? DAY TWO #How does Conrad use contrasts – places, characters, images, behaviors, etc.? Connect these contrasts to meaning. #Conrad’s style has been called impressionistic rather than realistic. In what ways might this be so? #What are two passages you consider key to the meaning of the book? Why? How do they reveal the meaning of the book as a whole? #How is Conrad’s novel a study of human nature in symbolic terms? What might the journey, the river, the jungle, and Kurtz, etc. represent? #How is the novel a quest for identity? #How reliable a narrator is Marlow? #What power relationships do we see in the novel? #Does the protagonist defend or defect from the dominant values of society? Explain. #How much does the fate of the main character rely on the forces of society? #What is Conrad’s view of memory and identity? Explain. #If we changed the point of view from Marlow to Kurtz, how would this impact the story? What would be different about it? Why? #Compare how Africans and Europeans are portrayed. Look at power structures – who has power and how is that power maintained? How is condemned? Who is admired? For what reasons? What complexities surface? #Explain the function of images as motifs – light/dark, fog, snakes, machinery, devils, etc. #Compare and contrast Marlow’s reaction to the wilderness to Kurtz. What significance can be found? How relative to the themes of the story?'' #What evidence supports the denial of Kurtz's existence in Heart of Darkness? (Kurtz is Marlow’s alter ego) #What is the function of the Harlequin?